“Hulas at Hiya”: Reflections on Filipino Context of Human-Connectedness and the Nature of Nursing

Abstract

This paper, through the lens of ethnography, explores and analyze the Filipino concept of hulas and hiya as the context of human-connectedness and its implication to the contemporary understanding of the nature of nursing and the process of knowing persons as persons. It is argued that the concepts of hiya and hulas are social constructs deeply ingrained in the Filipino psyche and society. Both markedly influence how Filipino persons present themselves and act in accordance with their unique and complex social dynamics. As such, this paper supports the idea that between the dichotomy of social and medical sciences, the discipline of Nursing shares the paradigmatic orientation and values of the former more than the latter. It is implied that education in nursing at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels must include scholarship, research, and studies on the prevailing local cultural knowledge to shed a deeper appreciation of unique practices and concepts affecting the understanding of nursing science and its expression as a discipline.